Air Astana selects CHAMP Cargosystems for cargo management solutions

Kazakhstan’s flag carrier has recently signed a contract for the implementation of CHAMP Cargosystems’ Cargospot Airline and Cargospot Revenue. These core business applications empower the cargo operations of Air Astana with complete end-to-end control over commercial, operational and revenue accounting processes. The aim is to further optimize operations, boost cost efficiency, and enhance service quality.

London, January 2014 – CHAMP Cargosystems today announced its selection by Air Astana to help manage the airline's ambitious growth strategy. The Kazak national airline is going to roll out CHAMP’s cargo management system over their entire international network during the next six months. The carrier opted for an integrated solution and chose CHAMP Cargosystems’ Cargospot Airline and Cargospot Revenue because of their superior features and easy-to-use functionalities. Cargospot Airline automates the entire commercial and operations process. Cargospot Revenue is a substantial revenue accounting solution, fully integrated with the other module.

Growing user community
CHAMP’s Cargospot applications have been rolled out to some 200 airlines, GSA, and GHA already. Whilst they are well proven they are being updated in a process of continuous quality improvement and new functions are added in accordance with industry and legislative requirements. Thus Air Astana benefits from the joint expertise of the CHAMP Cargosystems community.

Air Astana is CHAMP’s first customer in Kazakhstan and the second in central Asia. The airline, headquartered in Almaty, started commercial flights in 2002. It operates scheduled domestic and international services on 63 routes from its main hub, Almaty International Airport, and from its two secondary hubs, Astana International Airport and Atyrau Airport. The carrier operates the youngest fleet in the region and one of the youngest in Europe. It currently has 26 aircraft (mainly Airbus 320 and Boeing 767) and plans to expand its fleet to 34 airplanes by 2016 and to 43 by 2020.

Service quality and efficiency drivers
“Air Astana follows an ambitious growth strategy. CHAMP Cargosystems will play an important role to achieve this through its cargo management system which has rich functionality. CHAMP understands our needs. We decided on CHAMP as the single source provider for our new cargo systems covering the full cargo cycle. CHAMP has a great track record for operation and delivery. Their solution is well known for its maturity and stability and also as a solution constantly being evolved by real airline technology professionals”, said Chamindra Lenawa, Vice President IT & eBusiness, Air Astana.

And James Fernandez, VP Global Commercial Operations at CHAMP Cargosystems, added: "Our Cargospot portfolio is a key business enabler. The growing customer base ensures constant innovation in a cost-efficient manner. Air Astana can be confident that it has the IT tools needed to manage its business effectively. Using Cargospot Revenue Air Astana will benefit from expedited billing and improved cash flow, protecting it from delays, incorrect or over charging by other airlines or sales agents. The new IT tools will also enable the airline to provide an even better service to its customers.”